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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • If they take ten years to build, start now. Nuclear plants offset 400 million tons of CO2 a year in the US alone. All the waste produced since the 1950’s would fit just over 9 meters deep on a single football field. Yes there’s mining, it’s not great, guess what? Solar panels and wind turbines also require mining. The open pit sort, the sort with wastewater containing the ever-perfidious radioactive elements. All in all, for each ton of rare earth elements extracted, about 2,000 tons of toxic waste is produced, 1-1.4 tons of which are radioactive, usually thorium and uranium funnily enough. A point of interest on the waste, the tailing dam of the Bayan OBO mine in China, responsible for only half the world’s rare earth elements, is around 70 million m3, the nuclear waste I previously mentioned comes in at 49,000 m3, or 0.07% of the volume of a single mine.

    All this to say, let’s build solar panels, wind turbines and nuclear reactors, because we’re in the harm reduction phase, and nuclear reactors are a fantastic tool even if they have downsides, just like everything else.











  • As someone who works making glass, I want to underline that it’s silica dust that is dangerous. Your windows, drinking glasses, pyrex jugs, dinner plates, they’ll all be around 40–50% silica and are absolutely safe. Silicosis is a reaction to the shape of silica particles when inhaled, the particles cause scarring in the lungs and aren’t “mucused out”, so they remain causing more damage over time.

    I can’t think of any reason to ban anything for containing silica, the problem is mitigated by wearing a mask in areas where there are airborne particles.






  • It’s admittedly psychiatric care not emergency medical, but I’ve been impressed by Norway this year.

    After a decade or so of chaos after leaving high school, I had realised earlier this year that I had some issue and sought help.

    Start to finish, from GP appointment -> psychiatric evaluation -> tests -> specialist -> testing meds -> follow up, took 6 months, and I’m $275 out of pocket, and meds for 1 month cost $6.5.

    Two things worth noting are that they absolutely nailed identifying my issue first go, and that I responded well to the first thing they prescribed me, neither of which necessarily happen for everyone.